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No Frowns at Bush-Putin Talks

(AP) - At a troubled time
in U.S.-Russian relations, there were no frowns when Vladimir Putin and George
W. Bush got together for their last time as presidents. In fact, they wound up
dancing together.

That's right, dancing.

There was a Cossack chorus and folk dancing during
entertainment over dinner. Putin and Bush made their way to the stage and took
part in a traditional dance, White House press secretary Dana Perino said.
"They are comfortable with each other in less formal settings," she
said.

While Bush and Putin relaxed, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice was at a table with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, presumably
going over business for the presidents' talks Sunday.

Six tables with six seats each were arranged in a long
rectangular room. Bush and his wife, Laura, sat next to each other. Putin put
himself at Bush's side. Dmitry Medvedev, Putin's hand-picked successor, sat
next to the first lady. Putin's wife and Medvedev's wife were not seen.

Bush and Putin greeted each other with a warm handshake and
smiles as they met at Putin's retreat on acres of rolling woodland that stop at
the shores of the Black Sea.

Putin took his American visitor on a walking tour down to
the water. Laura Bush trailed a few steps behind so photographers could focus
on the two presidents, striding side by side.

By Russia's count, this was the 28th meeting between Bush
and Putin over seven years. They seem to get along well even when they fiercely
disagree, as they increasingly do on issues such as missile defense, democracy,
Iraq, Kosovo's independence, NATO expansion and many other subjects.

Saturday was a night for pleasantries. Come Sunday, it was
to be all business, the last face-to-face encounter of the two men as
presidents and a final stab at narrowing differences.

They easily found common ground Saturday on a subject they
both enjoy: sports. Sochi will host the Winter Olympics in 2014 and Putin
escorted Bush to the second floor of a guest house to show off a tabletop model
of the Olympic grounds, competition sites, dormitories, press facilities and
other buildings. Built to scale, it spread about 20 feet across the room.

Putin, wearing a brown turtleneck and casual brown jackets,
acted like a proud parent as Bush and his wife were shown around the model by
Dmitry Chernyshenko, president and chief executive of the organizing committee
for the Sochi games, and Alexander Tkachyov, governor of the Krasnodar region
in southern Russia. Tkachyov used a red laser pointer to show off different
sites.

Putin watched silently, his hands shoved in his pockets and
smiling broadly. Finally he could not resist a comment.

"This is your yacht," he joked to Bush, pointing
at a tiny white ship on a blue areas of the board representing the sea. Bush
chuckled.

Bush seemed to hang on every detail of the briefing. Looking
up at the press corps, he said the media center appeared to be the largest
building.

"A big project," Bush commented.

"It's going to be very exciting," the president
said. "I'm very impressed."

Bush and Putin posed for pictures in front of the Sochi
Olympic symbol. Laura Bush stepped aside to get out of the shot.